BalsaOvercast

My Feedback: (16)

Well, after much begging and pleading, my wife has finally relented and given me permission to buy a new radio. She told me to "get a good one" so I plan to do just that.

Got my new TowerTalk flyer in the mail today, and went looking for the Futaba Radios, but noticed the 8U was conspicuously absent...what's up with that? Are they phasing it out in favor of the 9C?

Incidentally, I've decided to buy a 9C, since the price difference between that and an 8U is minimal, and so far, everyone seems to like it.

Opinions, anyone?

DGrant

My Feedback: (4)

I have my 9C and am very pleased with quality, as I posted to a thread last night, I haven't put it in full service yet, and am only using it on one plane at this time. Lots to learn yet. Very user friendly.
Like you, was in the market just before the first of the year, and alas found the 8UAP was being phased out. So I opted for the 9CAP, even though the 8's were still plentiful, and I waited a month.
I'm not the least bit disappointed, matter of fact very glad that I waited. It's just one of those radio's that is so flippin trick for the money. I really think it definatly has the most bang for your buck.
It is slightly different then the 8U's and 6XA's, but I think that's what makes it cool, as there's something else to learn.
Your not limited in the slightest, as it has the campaq feature that will store up to 8 planes each. Timer's, model naming, triple rates, electronic trims, throttlecut/idledown, etc....a whole bunch of stuff. Search the treads here and you will find several on it. Good luck.

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

If you were interested in the 8U and have now started looking at the 9C then this may help:

http://www.futabarc.com/faq/faq-9c-q546.html

I have also purchased a 9C and am very happy with it.

amcross

My Feedback: (2)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU MAVERICK! :-) for pointing folks to the FAQs. It is really helpful and i sure appreciate it!

It's always nice to have others letting people know of the data available to them on our sites. thanks!!

Sincerely,
Mrs. AnnMarie Cross
Senior Manager, Proprietary Services and Support
Great Planes Model Distributors
[email protected]
www.greatplanes.com
www.bestrc.com
NO AUTORESPONDER

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

No problem. I work in the computer software industry and if I didn't have access to FAQs on a daily basis I wouldn't be able to do my job. So I always appreciate it when another industry starts to use these types of tools. I have been impressed with the whole FAQ section on the Futaba website. There is plenty of information available and it is easy to read. It is a site I keep going back to on a regular basis to learn more about my radio.

I was able to benefit from this particular 8U vs 9C FAQ when deciding to purchase my 9CHP so I thought other people would be able to benefit from it too!

BTW I love my 9C!

bkf

My Feedback: (5)

Yea: Futaba, love them or hate them they do a good job. Just some times a little slower then I would like. Love my new 9C!
B the K Fer

ps: Ann: get me a DSC cord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE

NCC-1701

I love my new 9C. Easier to program than the 8U, which was a fantastic radio by the way. I'd recommend this radio to just about anyone serious about the hobby.


Rob

GrnBrt

My Feedback: (5)

Yes, thank you Maverick as I just bookmarked it myself.

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

No problem!

amcross

My Feedback: (2)

Maverick,
Thanks so much! thrilled to hear you like what you see, as you're obviously someone who uses this type of tool regularly. We work hard to keep current data available, keep it up to date, keep it usable (that's the hardest one!), and meet the needs our customers tell us.

But for me by far the hardest job is to get people to look there!! we get so many emails every day, and often they are saying "why don't you just tell us X on your webpage" and we do, but we can't seem to get them there to find it.

Maverick, would you do me another favor?

please send an email to

[email protected]

with

i broke a switch on my radio

in the body of the email.

send another (not as a reply to the first)

with

i broke a switch on my 9Z.


Now try to come up with an email to the system to fool it into sending you the switch rule even though you were just saying something like "i might switch from JR" or "i turned on my receiver switch".

Anyone else is free to try as well -- please do put "TEST" in the subject so if your emails get past the auto system we'll know what it is....I'd VERY much like as much feedback as i can get from all of you about the automated response system.

The Futaba auto response system has approximately 60 different instant responses it provides to customers for a variety of very commonly asked questions, many of which refer people directly to the proper FAQ to answer their question to help them learn to use those tools. The accuracy rate of the system currently is about 90% (where it answered all or part of the customer's question correctly, usually in under 15 seconds).

Even if it is wrong, the customer looses only a minute or so of his time if he just immediately replies that it was not helpful, and by doing so the questions the system CAN answer are now out of the way -- leaving 90% less work for the techs to reply to and providing faster detailed responses to those customers who need the tech's immediate attention.

Sincerely,
Mrs. AnnMarie Cross
Senior Manager, Proprietary Services and Support
Great Planes Model Distributors
[email protected]
www.greatplanes.com
www.bestrc.com
NO AUTORESPONDER

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

OK. I did this with the two suggested emails and received a response with the appropriate answer. I was not able to get the system to respond with the switch information in it when I was sending something else with the word switch.

Generally it was very good at responding to my questions. When it didn't have a specific response it sent me a general response telling me where to go look for more information.

However there was one situation I thought it should have been able to answer and it didn't.

I sent an email with 'how do i switch modes?' in it and I got the general response back not the specific information about switching modes.

I know that mode switching information is on your website so maybe this could be included in the automated response system.

Just my observations.

Overall it is a great tool, but I do understand the frustration in getting people to know about it and then use it.

amcross

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks, scott! I appreciate you taking the time to try it! And anyone else who chooses to do so as well, again, thanks!

Did you find the general reply which lets you know we will answer you promptly and also some suggestions of where to find help clear and understandable? did it make sense and make it clear that we will be with you shortly, personally?

Sincerely,
Mrs. AnnMarie Cross
Senior Manager, Proprietary Services and Support
Great Planes Model Distributors
[email protected]
www.greatplanes.com
www.bestrc.com
NO AUTORESPONDER

Nuker

Hi AMC

OK I tried 3 different thread structures

1. Is it bad to switch my campacs frequently in my 8UAFS radio?

I got the generic answer; check FAQ's etc nothing specific about the 8U most pointed to 9 channel stuff. Didn't grab the word "switch" out of context.

2. I broke my switch on my 8UAFS radio.

Got a great response on this one showing me both the specific links and in text answers to switch related questions

3. I broke my swich on my 8UAFS radio.

I got the generic answer pages again

I wanted to test your spell check. If you are looking at keywords, you might to increase variations of the word; within reason of course as you can't catch them all. Chances are there are one or two possible variations to each of your keywords you trap that are common and you could then lessen the amount of extra e-mails that don't get caught.

Just a suggestion.

As for the generic message; some of the information might get lost as the mail is quite large. Your note was two pages at 1024x768 resolution. Certainly you are trying to help folks find their answers quicker but most acknowledgement notes I've received on the web indicate, they have received it, and they will get back to me in x days. Not a criticism just a comment that the note is busy so I tended not to read much beyond "we'll get back to you within one day most of the time". A point form format might increase it's readability.

Bob

ps I live with FAQ's too; makes life easier